which bond and oath shall be filed in the office of the secretary of the territory.

Sec. 4. Salary and Clerk Hire.-The commissioner of public lands shall be paid a salary of twenty-five hundred dollars per annum, payable monthly, and he may employ such clerks and other assistants in his office as he may need and may require of all assistants in his office a bond and oath of office.

Sec. 5. To Authenticate Official Papers.-Said commissioner shall be provided with an official seal and shall authenticate therewith all official papers kept on file in the territorial land office and shall execute therewith all leases, pasturage permits, rights of way, grants, contracts and other papers pertaining to the territorial lands under his control; and certified copies of all papers on file in the office of such commissioner, when bearing his official seal shall be admitted as evidence in any court in this territory; and said commissioner is hereby empowered to administer oaths, take acknowledgments and attest all papers in matters pertaining to his office, and to execute under his hand and seal all leases, pasturage permits and other contracts herein provided for, and leases, pasturage permits and deeds and other contracts heretofore or hereafter so executed shall be entitled to record without acknowledgment, and the record thereof in the county in which the land affected thereby is situate, shall constitute, constructive notice, to all persons of the contents thereof.

Sec. 6. Duties of the Commissioner. The commissioner of public lands shall keep his office at the capitol and perform such duties and functions as may be required by law; he shall issue and sign on behalf of the territory, all leases, pasturage permits, deeds, contracts and other papers pertaining to the leasing, management and control of territorial lands; he shall take possession and have charge of all records, books, papers and property of every kind whatsoever now in the hands or control of the board of public lands, designated by act of the legislative assembly approved March 16, 1899, and shall collect any moneys due the territory on outstanding notes and other evidences of indebtedness for the purchase, leasing or using in any manner of territorial lands and otherwise enforce the same as though such contracts and evidences of indebtedness had been executed under this act or the statutes of New Mexico and all notes or other evidences of indebtedness, leases and other contracts heretofore issued or made to or by the board of public lands are hereby ratified and confirmed and declared to be the property of the territory for the purpose of this act; he shall receive all mon

eys derived from the leasing, handling or sale of territorial lands and disburse the same as provided by this act; he shall receive and pass upon all applications for leasing, purchasing or using the territorial lands or any easements or other rights connected therewith or appertaining thereto, and execute proper leases, contracts, notes and other papers therefor; he shall furnish lists of vacant lands to all applicants, and keep a full and complete record of all his official acts; he shall prepare and submit to the governor each year a report bearing date the last day of December, containing a statement of the business of his office and the amount turned over by him to the treasurer for the benefit of each fund or institution, also such recommendations as he may desire to make for the better management, handling or control of territorial lands which report shall be published and distributed free of charge.

Sec. 7. Office Expenses.-The commissioner of public lands is hereby allowed the sum of two thousand dollars annually for office expenses and the employment of such clerical assistance and agents as the business of his office may require and he shall prescribe the duties of all assistants in his office. The salaries and expenses to be paid upon vouchers and warrants drawn and paid as other territorial officials.

Sec. 8. Commissioner to Recommend Selections. It is hereby made the duty of the commissioner of public lands to ascertain the amount of lands due the territory from any source and to recommend to the United States land commission the selection and location of all indemnity and other lands, whenever and wherever the best interests of the territory will be subserved; and the commissioner shall be allowed his actual and necessary expenses when he is required to go to different parts of the territory in the performance of his official duties.

Sec. 9. To Ascertain All Salt Lands.-The commissioner of public lands shall cause an investigation to be made at once with a view to ascertaining all salt lands in the territory, gathering full data as to the extent of all such lands and the amount of salt produced therefrom and shall make contracts with other persons or corporation for the sale or handling of the salt output thereof, or shall lease said lands for a fair price to parties desiring the use of salt thereon; and may make any contracts for the best interest of the territory in handling such lands.

Sec. 10. Not to Recommend Location of Reservoir Sites.The leasing, management, sale and control of all the lands granted to the territory by act of congress approved June 21, 1898, for

the establishment of permanent water reservoirs for irrigation purposes and of land granted for the improvement of the Rio Grande and the increasing of the surface flow of the water in the bed of said river shall be under the control of the commissioner of public lands under the supervision of the board of control hereinafter created, as other territorial lands, but said commissioner shall not recommend selections of sites for reservoirs, or make contracts for grants of lands to persons constructing water reservoirs, or make contracts for the improvement of the Rio Grande, but may receive applications for such purposes and have the same investigated and reported upon by a competent engineer, which application and reports shall be by said commissioner filed with the board of control for its action thereon as hereinafter provided.

Sec. 11. To Keep Record of Business Transacted.-The commissioner of public lands shall keep by sections, townships and ranges separate tract books of all lands reserved for the use and benefit of the different institutions and purposes and the expiration of leases and number of cash payments receipts and registered numbers of all notes and payments thereof; he shall record and number consecutively all leases and pasturage permits, and shall record in series according to date of maturity and fund to which they belong all notes given for deferred payments under said leases; he shall keep a cash book in which he shall each day record all moneys received by him from whatever source, showing by whom paid and for what purpose; he shall keep by series a record of all notes cancelled on account of new notes taken in case of transfer of lease or pasturage permit, and he shall receive and accept or reject all applications for leases or pasturage permits and give notice of his action in the premises to all applicants.

Sec. 12. To Keep Separate Accounts for Each Institution or Purpose. The commissioner of public lands shall keep separate accounts of all moneys received from lands reserved for common schools, a university, an agricultural college, a school of mines, normal schools, a military institute, reform school, an institution for the blind, and asylum for the deaf and dumb, permanent water reservoirs for irrigating purposes, improvement of the Rio Grande, an asylum for the insane, a miners' hospital for disabled miners, public buildings at the capital, territorial penitentiary, or for any other purpose; and said moneys derived from approved leases, pasturage permits and sales of territorial lands shall be paid to the territorial treasurer on the first day of each month to the credit of the several funds respectively entitled to receive the same.

Sec. 13. Lands Not to be Sold. Exceptions.-All lands no? owned or hereafter acquired by this territory shall be subject to lease at an annual rental of not less than two cents per acre for dry grazing land, five cents per acre for grazing land with stock water sufficient to supply all stock that the land applied for will support, and ten cents per acre for lands with water supply sufficient for irrigating or for cultivated lands; and said lands shall be leased for a period not to exceed five years, and none of said land shall be sold except such as are under permanent water reservoirs, or are capable of being used for farming purposes, or irrigated from some permanent water supply: Provided, That the commissioner of public lands may grant the right of way across or upon any portion of the territorial lands upon such terms as he may deem for the best interests of the territory for any ditch, reservoir, railroad, public highway or telegraph line; and he may sell lands for the purpose of erecting thereon buildings for schools, colleges, churches, hospitals, benevolent institutions and cemeteries, and he may execute and sign on behalf of the territory a proper deed or instrument of writing for such right of way or sale: Provided, That this section shall not be construed to grant authority to convey any land except for the purposes herein set forth, and no land shall be sold for less than the appraised value thereof, nor for less than three dollars per acre and not more than forty acres shall be sold to any one institution of the character herein mentioned, and not more than one quarter section shall be sold to any one person for farming purposes.

Sec. 14. Rental Payable Annually.-All rentals for leased lands or for pasturage rights shall be paid annually in advance on the first day of October, and all notes executed for deferred payments shall mature on the first day of October of each year, and the date of expiration of all leases or pasturage permits shall be the first day of October of the year said lease or pasturage permit is to expire.

Sec. 15. Lessees Not to Use Timber or Other Materials.Lessees of territorial lands shall not remove or use, or allow to be removed or used any timber, stone or mineral found on any of the lands leased unless such removal is provided for in the lease.

Sec. 16. May Sell Matured and Fallen Timber.-The commissioner of public lands is hereby authorized to sell the down, large growth and matured timber on any territorial lands at a price of not less than two dollars per acre, and not less in any event than the market value in the locality where the same is situate; but shall not sell any such timber or authorize the cutting or use thereof,

except upon application duly sworn to, describing by government sub-divisions the tract or tracts upon which the applicant desires to cut timber and the number of acres from which he desires to cut the same, with an estimate as nearly as may be of the amount of timber thereon and the character and quality thereof, which estimate of timber on said land shall be verified by affidavits of two disinterested persons familiar therewith: Provided, That the commissioner may if he desires make a personal investigation of the land before contracting for the sale of such timber. Before any permit to cut or remove any of said timber shall be given, the commissioner shall require the applicant to give bond to the Territory of New Mexico, to his satisfaction, in such sum as he may deem sufficient, to the effect that in case said permit is granted, the person applying therefor will not cut or remove any timber hereby prohibited to be cut or removed from the land described in his application; and not timber less than eight inches in diameter shall be cut and sold from said land, except such as is suitable for fuel and fences

Sec. 17. Lessee May Use Timber and Stone for Building.Lessees of territorial lands as herein provided may be permitted to use such dry and down timber as may be on said land for fuel, and such timber and stone as may be necessary to erect buildings and fences on the land: Provided, That the consent of the commissioner of public lands shall be first had and such permit shall be in writing and attached to the lease; and all improvements made from material obtained from said land shall be deemed a part of the land and shall revert to the territory at the expiration of the lease and shall not be removed from the premises.

Sec. 18. Penalty for Wrongful Use of Material.-Any person removing, cutting or using any timber, stone or other materials belonging to the Territory of New Mexico, except as herein provided, or in any way trespassing upon territorial lands, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars nor more than one thousand dollars, or by imprisonment for a period of not less than six months nor more than one year and in addition thereto shall forfeit and pay to the territory an amount double the value of the material so used, cut or removed, and all moneys collected for violations hereof shall be paid to the commissioner of public lands and by him credited to the institution or purpose to which the land belongs; and any violation of this provision by persons holding leas